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May 7, 2016

Eclipse Kura is an Open Source project that provides a platform for building IoT gateways. It is a smart application container that enables remote management of such gateways and provides a wide range of APIs for allowing you to write and deploy your own IoT application.
Kura runs on top of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and leverages OSGi, a dynamic component system for Java, to simplify the process of writing reusable software building blocks. Kura APIs offer easy access to the underlying hardware including serial ports, GPS, watchdog, USB, GPIOs, I2C, etc. It also offer OSGI bundle to simplify the management of network configurations, the communication with IoT servers, and the remote management of the gateway.

In this post I will describe my own quick way of installing and configuring Kura on a Raspberry PI board. Please refer to the official Kura installation guide for more information.

Prerequisites

Raspberry PI 2 or 3 with a recent version of Raspbian OS and connected to the internet. See my quick start.

First update your system's package list by entering the following command:

sudo apt-get update

Install the Kura package:

sudo dpkg -i kura_1.4.0_raspberry-pi-2-nn_installer.deb

Ignore the dependency problems warnings and fix the installation by running the following command:

sudo apt-get install -f

You can now delete the Kura package:

rm kura_1.4.0_raspberry-pi-2-nn_installer.deb

Reboot the Raspberry Pi

sudo reboot

Kura server will be restarted automatically so you should be able to access the Kura administrative UI - http://[HOST]/kura
Default login is admin/admin

To view Kura logs type the following command

tail -f /var/log/kura.log

It is strongly suggested to change admin password. This can be done by selecting the WebConsole service from the UI.

Disable CloudService (optional)

In my examples I will connect Kura to IBM Watson IoT Platform. The CloudService
is a proprietary service and not appropriate for connecting to Watson IoT so we can disable it permanently.

Edit
the Kura /opt/eclipse/kura/kura/config.ini file and
modify the osgi.bundles parameter by changing the action for the
https://developer.ibm.com/recipes/kura/plugins/org.eclipse.kura.core.cloud_*.jar
from "start" to "stop".

May 6, 2016

In this post I will describe how to install the Raspbian operating system on a Raspberry PI 2 or 3 and some basic configuration settings to start your IoT projects.
The described procedure will not require a display and keyyboard and can be performed just connecting the PI to your router using a LAN cable.

Raspbian OS installation

First of all you need to download the latest Raspbian OS image from here. This procedure is tested with Raspbian Jessie with Pixel (version January 2017).
If you are running on Windows, download the Win32DiskImager utility from here and use it to flash the ISO image to the SD card. Refer to this guide for more details. If you are running on Linux or MaxOS look here.

Do not remove the SD card from the PC at the end of the process because we first need to enable SSH because, due to security reasons, SSH protocol is disabled by default in the latest versions of Raspbian OS.
To enable SSH, all you need to do is to put a file called ssh in the boot partition. The contents of the file don’t matter: it can contain any text you like, or even nothing at all.

You can now insert the SD card into the Raspberry PI slot and power it on.

Basic configuration

To avoid the need of connecting a display and keyboard, I typically just plug a LAN cable from my home router to the PI and get it's IP address from the router administrative console which typically is accessible at http://192.168.1.1/ or http://192.168.1.0/.

You can now use any SSH client like Putty to connect to the PI. The default user and passwords are pi/raspberry.

The new Raspbian with Pixel already comes with VNC server installed so all you have to do is start it.
On the shell just type:

vncserver

The last line of the output should be something like this:
New desktop is raspberrypi:1 (192.168.168.4:1)

Now the VNC server on port 1 should be started and you can use any VNC client to connect to the PI. I personally use the RealVNC client.

Connect to your device with the VNC client and enter credentials (pi/raspberry). A security warning should now appear to warn you it's time to change your password.
Run the Raspberry PI Configuration application under Preferences menu. From here you can change the default password.

In the Interfaces tab you can also automatically start the VNC server at boot.

The VNC resolutin can be forced in the /boot/config.txt file. Inside the VNC remote session, open a teminal and type:

sudo leafpad /boot/config.txt

Enter the follwing settings to force a 1080p resolution (1920x1080) . See here for more details.
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=16

Reboot your Raspberry Pi

reboot

Wait for 1 or 2 minuter for the PI to restart and try connecting to the VNC server to check if it automatically starts.

If you have a RasPI 3 you can now easily configure the WiFi connection from the desktop. After having configured the WiFi, disconnect the LAN cable. Don't forget that a new IP address will be assigned.

Port Mapping (optional)

If you have installed the Raspberry PI at your house and want to access it remotely you can define port mappings on your router.

SSH: 22 > 10022

VNC: 5901 > 15901

HTTP: 80 > 10080

I prefer to change the ports for security reasons and to allow more than one device to be mapped.

May 4, 2016

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most significant trends in technology today. A melding of innovations in the fields of computing and communication, IoT and its “smart” devices are poised to revolutionize not only user-machine interaction but also the way in which machines engage with one another.

IoT is now permeating in every industry energy, healthcare, automotive, and other industries are beginning to grapple with the Industrial of Internet of Things (IIoT), where devices such as sensors, robots, mixing tanks, and insulin pumps are becoming increasingly more connected.

But what’s the difference between IoT and IIoT? It’s not a difficult distinction, but many people incorrectly use them interchangeably.

IoT vs. IIoT: Consumer vs. Industrial Applications
If your refrigerator or wearable device is connected to the Internet, then it is part of the IoT. It’s a consumer application. If your factory floor has machinery connected to each other and to a centralized data center, it is an M2M application. If your factory floor has an ecosystem of sensors, machinery and people connected to processes and to the Internet, then it is part of IIoT. It’s an industrial application.

Many analysts say that IIoT will drive the next industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) where intelligent, interconnected systems will seamlessly support activities along the entire value chain and boost efficiency and productivity.

A major concern surrounding the Industrial IoT is interoperability between devices and machines that use different protocols and have different architectures. The nonprofit Industrial Internet Consortium, founded in 2014, focuses on creating standards that promote open interoperability and the development of common architectures.

Industrial IoT has far more stringent requirements than the consumer IoT, including the need for no-compromise control, rock-solid security, unfailing reliability even in harsh (extremely hot or cold, dusty, humid, noisy, inconvenient) environments, and the ability to operate with little or no human intervention. And unlike more recently designed consumer-level devices, many of the billion or so industrial devices already operating on existing networks were put in place to withstand the test of time, often measured in decades.

The differences between the IIoT and IoT are not just a matter of slight degree or semantics. If your Fitbit or Nest device fails, it might be inconvenient. But if a train braking system fails, it could be a matter of life and death.

May 3, 2016

By default MxLoader uses plain Object Services through HTTP calls. These services are automatically exposed when an Object Structure is created in Maximo. Using Web Services is possible to have more control over data defining processing classes, user exit classes, XSL maps, and processing rules.

MxLoader 5.1 now allows to use Web Services as well. To enable MxLoader to work with Web Services you need two settings in the Config sheet:

Server address must be changed to http://[MXHOST]/meaweb/services/

Use Web Service option must be set to ‘True’

When a WebService is defined from an Object Structure you can just specify the WS name in cell A2 as you normally do.
However, when the WebService is defined from an Enterprise Service you have to specify the web service name with a dotted notation in cell A2 with format [EXTSYSNAME]_[ESNAME].[OSNAME]. For example, if your External System is ‘MYEXTSYS’ your Enterprise Service is named ‘MYESVC’ and based on ‘MXASSET’ you have to specify MYEXTSYS_MYESVC.MXASSET in cell A2.

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Disclaimer

The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.
The materials on this site are provided "AS IS" and the author will not be liable for any direct, indirect or incidental damages arising out or relating to any use or distribution of them.